Common Core repeal sparks controversy among superintendents

Gov. Mary Fallin repealed the Common Core education standards, making Oklahoma the third state to do away with the requirements.

By Sophia Stanleysophia.stanley@news-star.com

Gov. Mary Fallin repealed the Common Core education standards, making Oklahoma the third state to do away with the requirements.

Shawnee Public Schools superintendent Marc Moore said he was in favor of the continuation of Common Core in Shawnee schools.

“That does not mean that I bless every component of it,” he said. “I think there are still some issues that need to be worked out.”

However, that does not mean he is completely against the repeal.

“Gov. Fallin was in a difficult position,” Moore said. “She believed in the higher expectations that are associated with Common Core but she also had to balance that with a potential black cloud that would have been over Common Core and education for several years.”

Moore said he did not know what the right decision would be. He said he thinks the education standards Oklahoma will develop will have a lot of similarities to Common Core.

“The new standards will require kids to have higher level thinking skills,” he said.

Although he thinks the education standards will be raised, Moore said the transition process is tedious.

“From our district, it’s been frustrating to spend several thousands of dollars and several, several employee hours for the transition when we could have been using that for other purposes that would have increased student achievement,” he said.

Charlie Dickinson, superintendent of Dale Public Schools, also said the transition is a problem.

“We have spent two years training teachers in Common Core,” Dickinson said. “We hired outside agencies to come in and do professional development. We’re kind of worried now as administrators that we’re taking a couple of steps backwards.”

Dickinson said he is against the repeal.

“It was politically the right thing to do for the government; realistically I don’t think it was the best thing to do for our kids,” he said.

As a whole, Dickinson said he thought Common Core is a good program.

“What we were against as administrators was the assessments that came with them, called PARCC,” he said.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, tests are computer-based K-12 assessments in math and English. However, PARCC assessments are optional, and Oklahoma had chosen not to use them.

“Those requirements were pretty stringent,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that as time goes on, more states are likely to repeal the Common Core.

“It’s becoming a political football,” he said. “It’s very popular to be against it right now and I think more and more states are going to jump on board with that.”